Do most fans side on the idea of the Chicago Bulls tanking or still trying to fight for a playoff spot in the East this season?
After their latest loss at the hands of the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 24 by the final score of 98-81, the popular opinion seemed to be that the Chicago Bulls should officially waive the white flag this season. The Bulls had their chance to prove that the pelvic injury to power forward Lauri Markkanen wouldn’t hold them back too much if they could sweep the Kings on Friday night.
An 18-point loss to the Kings is one way to break a team’s spirit when they didn’t already have much confidence to ride on. That’s the situation that the Bulls find themselves in right now. The Bulls moved to a record of 17-30 on the season after falling short at home at the United Center. And what made this loss worse was the fact that it came in front of owner and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
Hope is starting to die out with the Bulls, which is a bad sign during the third year of this rebuild. John Paxson and Gar Forman aren’t doing anything to keep that hope alive for Bulls fans. Head coach Jim Boylen’s incompetency just adds more salt to the wound for this fan base.
The first half of the regular season schedule was the time that the Bulls had to truly establish themselves as a playoff contender in the Eastern Conference. But that time is now gone.
Here’s a look into the three definitive reasons why the Chicago Bulls should tank for the rest of the regular season after their Jan. 24 loss to the Sacramento Kings.